Res ipsa loquitur ("The thing itself speaks")

The White Sox Rename Their Field As . . .

Ok, I am a lifelong Cubs fan but it is impossible to not to blanche at the truly horrific renaming of what was once Comiskey Park (which most of us native Chicagoans still call the White Sox field). It was named U.S. Cellular Field which tossed tradition for cash. Now, the owners are changing the field to . . . Guaranteed Rate Field. I kid you not. By the way, above left is the symbol of the new namesake of the White Sox team.

The owners sold out the traditional name of the park in 1991 in signed a $68 million deal for a 20-year naming. That is all it took to ditch the founding team owner Charles A. Comiskey. It makes Wrigley all the more special.

When Sprint bought U.S. Cellular, the owners saw another chance to sell out. Who better than a mortgage company eager for legitimacy? Guaranteed Rate is one of the largest home lenders in the United States, funding $18 billion in loans last year. After all, it could be worse. I could be Quicken Loans field.

19 thoughts on “The White Sox Rename Their Field As . . .”

OK, the guaranteed interest rate thing made me think about what it cost to go to a ball game. Which, here is a link to ticket prices, and the average for the White Sox are about $29.55. Cities with professional baseball teams, like the Yankees, charge more. 🙂

Darren – the City of Phoenix is selling its stake in Chase Field (formerly Bank One Ballpark, or the BOB). It is expected the new stakeholders will rename the park. The reason the city is selling is because it did not want to pay the demanded renovation costs (stadium is now about 20 years old). And, of course, the Diamondbacks, suck.